MCA Awards 2022 timeline announced for landmark 25th year

The timeline for the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Awards in 2022 has been announced by the industry body for the consulting sector. Next year will be the 25th year of the MCA awards which recognise the outstanding work that management consultants are involved in across the private and public sector and celebrate the effort of both individuals and project teams and their clients both in the UK and globally.

Since 1996, the awards have grown year on year and currently, there are 22 categories, four more than in its inaugural year, with 12 project awards, 7 individual awards and 3 overall awards. The new timeline follows a decision to permanently change the MCA Awards calendar following the disruption caused to the hosting of face-to-face events last year. Despite the impact of COVID-19 which the MCA Awards experienced, there were a record number of entries this year with an increase of 50% from the previous year. The most popular categories are the individual ones including Young Consultant of the Year, Rising Star and Team Leaders Consultant of the Year which all promote the outstanding talent there is working within the consulting sector. Entries to individual categories were up 160% on the previous year demonstrating that the industry is keen to promote the talent in their firms at this key industry event.

The awards are open to all MCA Member Firms and their employees apart from the category ‘Best New Consultancy’. This award is open to all consulting firms which have been operating for less than seven years and can demonstrate their client focus, delivery, excellence, commitment to their people and operational excellence. Finalists in this category often feature in a special supplement with The Times Newspaper, a leading sponsor of the awards, along with other finalists.

Tamzen Isacsson, MCA Chief Executive, said:

“For a quarter of a century the MCA Awards have been a remarkable opportunity for the industry to come together with clients and demonstrate the true value of consulting and the outstanding individuals that work in our firms. The MCA Awards are judged by an independent judging panel and are fiercely competitive and we are confident next year will see another bumper set of award entries from across the sector.  We look forward to working with all firms to champion this work in the 25th MCA Awards”

The MCA awards are judged by an independent panel consisting of over 45 judges drawn from a variety of backgrounds including academia, the media industry, government and the private sector. Each judge has to sign a strict code of conduct and follow a marking and interview process with clear guidelines and criteria. Judges include Lord Victor Adebowale, Chair of the NHS Federation; Bev Thaker-Fell, Category Director for Barclays and Chris Giles, Economics Editor of the Financial Times highlighting the range of expertise on the panel.

BBC journalist and judge for the 2021 MCA Awards, Maryam Moshiri, said:

‘It’s always an honour to judge these awards. The candidates are simply incredible, so impressive and full of ideas and creativity. The world of Management consulting never fails to surprise and impress me, so much variety and talent – I am so looking watching the winner of the category I judged receive their award and hope to be asked to judge again next year”

The MCA Awards 2022 timeline is as follows:

Monday 22 November 2021 Purchase entries open
January 2022 (date tbc) MCA Awards Masterclass 1
Friday 28 January 2022 Purchase entry deadline
February 2022 (date tbc) MCA Awards Masterclass 2
Friday 11 March 2022 Deadline for submission of written entries
Monday 14 March 2022 Ticket/Table purchasing goes live
Monday 4 April 2022 MCA will confirm with Awards Coordinators the interview date, plus morning/afternoon session for each category
Monday 9th May 2022 Awards Coordinators informed of finalist entries and confirmation of interview time
Monday 23rd May 2022 Finalists announced on MCA Website
Monday 6th June 2022 – Friday 1st July 2022 Interviews of Finalist Entries
September 2022 (date tbc) Finalists Drinks Reception
Monday 14th November 2022 Awards Ceremony & Dinner at Park Plaza, London

Download the MCA Awards Timeline 2022 document.

For more information on both this year and next years’ awards, please go to www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards . Further details including how to apply as well as details of sponsorship packages can be obtained from Natalie Mendez.